


This Is A Pinkline Train To My Heart

by GASPEN



Category: Original Work
Genre: Albino, Anal Sex, CEO, Cheesy, Chicago (City), Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, M/M, Major Character Injury, Modern AU, Possible Mpreg, Public Transportation, Slow Build, Terrorism, cta, transit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-01
Updated: 2015-02-01
Packaged: 2018-03-10 00:55:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3270737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GASPEN/pseuds/GASPEN
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gavin Ravine takes the same train to work every day. He never planned on taking another, that was, until a fire on the tracks forces the station to close down for repairs.</p><p>Now he's taking the pinkline, where the short and unusual looking conductor has him thinking that, maybe, change isn't such a bad thing after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Information

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Looking for schedules and stops? Click here!

Pinkline

Pinkline trains begin and end at (instert stop here). Pinkline trains run counter clockwise to the loop and no not make stops at (insert stop here) or (insert stop here). 

Most pinkline stops are wheelchair accessible. If you need assistance, please ask an employee for help.

Please remain off the tracks and stand behind the blue line when on the platform. Please do not try to board or exit the train while it is still in motion.

If you feel like your immediate safety is threatened, please exit the platform using appropriate exits. If you are on the train, please move to another car. If you see any unattended packages, suspicious characters, or smell noxious fumes, please alert a CTA employee immediately.

Moving between cars is illegal unless it is for emergency reasons. Gambling, soliciting, smoking, and eating are also prohibited on CTA vehicles.

Please do not lean against the doors.

Thank you for for choosing the CTA.


	2. A New Route

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a pinkline train to downtown.

Trains ran on a set schedule, one that determined when they were supposed to be there and when they were on their way. They were like this for a reason, and it was in the name of cohesiveness.

One person depended on this punctuality a lot. So much so that the normal outsider would begin to question his ability to adapt.

Every morning, at 7 am, Gavin Ravine would walk the four blocks from his house to the train station, coffee in hand, to tap his card on the turnstyle and wait on the elevated platform for his 7:05 train to come rolling by. He would then sit, or stand (depending on the day) and drink his coffee in the 30 minutes it took to get to the loop. Once there, he would get off at the thrid stop, walk down the stairs, cross the street, and enter the big, grey building with the lions standing guard outside.

It was his routine. One he did so often that he never missed a beat. Everything was perfectly timed so that he was never too early or late when he got to work. It was a feat many struggled to copy, and Gavin would tell you he was proud of himself and his impeccable organization.

He wasn't the CEO of Ravine industries for nothing, after all.

Gavin would tell you that his success started from his ability to be on time, all the time. He had never missed a school day, doctors appointment, college lecture, or business meeting in the entirety of his life. And, he would also tell you that he never planned on ruining his streak in the years to come. 

it was part of what defined him as a person, on top of his status. He was "Ol' Reliable", as his coworkers fondly referred to him as.

So, now knowing a bit of his backstory, and the importance of time to Mr. Ravine, the average person might be able to understand how incredibly impossible it seemed to the CEO that his train was not on schedule.

In fact, it wouldn't be on schedule for a long time.

"The track is being redone?" Gavin asked, a CTA employee the unfortunate one to have to explain to him how this was so.

The worker, a dark skinned, heavier set woman with tightly curled hair and dark plum lipstick, smacked her lips together as she answered his question. "Yeah. Baby, didn't you see the news? There was a fire on the tracks yesterday."

"A fire?"

"Mhm. Started last night. Destroyed the whole section. The train's not going to be able to run until they fix the whole thing."

Gavin shook his head in disbelief. No, this couldn't be happening. The train always ran. Always.

"But won't that take at least a few weeks?"

The woman smacked her glossy, purple lips again. 

"Baby, its going to take months."

Gavin didn't like the way that sounded. He must have showed it because the CTA worker was soon talking again. 

"There's another train station a few blocks west if here. If you go there you can catch another train and transfer."

Gavin frowned. "But I don't know that train's schedule." The woman shrugged, turning to walk away.

"Well its either learn it or not go to work, baby. I don't know what to tell you.

She left with those parting words, Gavin forced to stand there and not proceed on his regular routine.   
A new schedule. Preposterous. He had always stuck to the same schedule. It was the same all day every day and he liked it that way. It was how he was on time each day.

The man frowned some more, checking his watch. Time was ticking, and even though he really didn't want to stray from his usual ways, he had better go find this other train station least he be late.

Late. 

He shuddered. It was like a bad word.

Gavin hurried out of the station and down the street. His strides were long and he would admit that his attitude had been a bit unfavorable when he had gotten caught behind and elderly couple that had decided they wanted to go for a stroll. 

Gavin had managed to get around them without much conflict, but he hadn't been very happy by the time he finally got to the foreign train station terminal and went up to the elevated deck. His mood only soured further when he got onto the platform and found the waiting train's doors were shut tight, as if taunting him and everything he'd worked for in life.

Grip tightening on the worn handle of his briefcase, Gavin looked around for someone to complain to. He couldn't afford to waste any more time. He was already cutting it very close. If he didn't get on a train right now, he'd be late.

Looking to his right, he found someone who loooked about adequate for his blame. A man was leaning on the side of the train, his phone in one hand and a half smoked cigarette in the other. He was wearing an obnoxious yellow saftey vest over a black uniform that was highly unflattering. His hat covered his hair and the visor was pulled down in such a way that Gavin couldn't see his face, but he didn't care.

Who ever this random person was had to know something about the train and when it was going to run. He would have to go get the information he needed, and maybe twist some thumbs to get what he wanted.

Gavin narowed his chocolate eyes and turned his body, going up to the CTA employee. "Excuse me," he started, gruff. "When is this train running?"

The worker didn't glance up. He took another puff of his cigarette and tapped on his phone.

Gavin scowled.

" **Excuse me**." he repeated, angry that he was being ignored. He gripped his brief case handle harder, leather gloves squeaking softly in protest. "When is the train running?"

The CEO stared down the smaller man, which, up until that point, he hadn't realized was at least a foot shorter than him, and impatiently waited to be recognized. The worker, however, paid him no mind.

He finished the rest of his cigarette and closed his phone before he finally looked up Gavin. When he did, the taller man was a bit startled when he got a good look at the face that greeted him.

It wasn't that the other man was ugly or disfigured. No. He was just... Unusual.

The Worker, as Gavin now referred to him in his head, was an unearthly shade of white. Somehow, though, it wasn't just white in his head, but rather a marble, or an alabaster. You know, the kinds of skintones the victorians had strived for by not going outside. There was a faint dusting of pink across his cheeks and on his nose, probably due from the cold, and the shade matched the color of his lips. His eyes were big, not freakishly so, but for enough and were a type of red that Gavin wasn't sure was supposed to happen in humans. Not that red was a common eye color in humans anyway, but just the way they looked he could tell they weren't contacts ot something stupidly false. The final tie to the package were the few whisps of silver hair that he could seen poking out from under the hat.

Albino, his mind thought. This worker was an albino.

He didn't think that was even possible.

The Worker glared at him.

He flicked away the used cigarette filter to the floor and stomped on the smoldering square with his boot. His phone was slipped into his pocket before he got up off the side of the train and walked around the impatient CEO. Gavin watched as he reached up, skirting his fingers in the crack in the door, and pulled. The train doors were forced open by his hands and he hopped aboard after his feat, closing himself into the conductors box. Soon after, Gavin heard the behemoth roar to life and the rest of the doors slide open.

"Welcome to pinkline run number Seven Oh Seven." The automated voice chimed, pleasant and annoying. "This is a pinkline train to downtown."

The voice went off and was replaced by another. "All aboard, please." It was the conductor.

Gavin blinked, looking around to see if he was the only one on the platform. No one else was in sight, surprisingly, and he must gave been standing there for too long trying to figure out why because the conductor soon spoke once more.

"Are you going to get on the train or were you just badgering me when I was on my break just to stand there?" the small man bit out into the intercom. Gavin could _feel_ the irritated sneer that was most likely painting the unseen face and he quickly stepped inside, not wanting to be left behind.

"Doors closing." The automated voice was there again.

Gavin settled himself into a seat as the doors shut, the automated voice repeating its earlier statements. Gavin barely paid attention to them, instead watching the scenery and the form of the conductor in the tiny window that seperated the passanger compartment from the operational one. 

The train was moving now, zooming along the track in the way trains do, and the conductor had removed his hat as they went along. Gavin was allowed to see then that his hair was indeed all silver, and it perplexed the CEO further. 

How was that stage of albinism even created? Yes, white rats had white hair and red eyes, but people weren't...

It made his head hurt trying to figure out what complicated genetics were playing a role in this and so he stopped, instead settling for simply watching the man move back and forth between windows at stops to open.and close the doors.

The whole train ride took longer than expected, and it turned out that the pinkline totally ran counter clockwise on the loop. Somehow, though, Gavin still managed to make it there on time, with only seconds to spare, and he couldn't help but wonder how that could be.

His day went by smoothly, the rest of his routine going by without a hitch. It was when he had to go home did he skip a beat. 

His train that usually took him home was no longer. Or, at least, no longer for the next several months. That meant he would have to take the train he caught here to get back to his neighborhood. 

Gavin made a face. 

He didn't like this change. Not one bit, and he looked like quite the grouch while standing on the opposite side of the platform, waiting for this new train he was being forced to take. 

Why couldn't his train have not been burned down? Or, better yet, why hadn't the fire department caught it soon enough to be saved? Really, was the Chicago Fire Department trying to match services with Detroit? Cause if so, the CEO didn't want to have to call emergency services for anything. They might not even show up.

Grumbling, Gavin almost didn't realize his train was there until he heard the chime that signaled the doors were closing. He bolted out of his rut and slipped inside just before the doors could close all the way, huffing slightly at how offputting this whole experience was, and found a seat. 

He watched the scenery and cityscape play by as the train slowly completed its loop, busy thinking about how drastically he'd have to change his schedule to make it to work on time and not be late. He didn't really want to wake up earlier, but if it had to be done then it had to be done. 

The train got less and less full with every stop and by the time Gavin got to the end, the train was empty again. 

The CEO still wasn't sure what to think about this, but as he was gathering his things to leave another employee came in and opened up the conductors door.

Gavin, suddenly nosy, pretended to be looking for something as the conductors changed spots, the new one taking control and the one who had previously been on shift slipping back out.

"Don't take forever next time, ok?" Someone droned from inside the space, obviously annoyed. The parting conductor, who happened to be the albino from that morning, snorted in response.

"I didn't take forever." he said, sounding tired. Gavin continued to look for his glove.

"Well you're 15 minutes late."

"I didn't-" There was a sudden change in tune, Gavin popping his head up from behind the seat as the albino got angry. He had hunched his shoulders, body language suggesting he might go pummel whoever it was that was making him mad, before he drooped like a wet noodle, the fight leaving him.

"Nevermind." 

The new conductor said something unintelligible before the security door clamped shut, leaving just Gavin and the albino, who had noted that Gavin had been eavesdropping.

"What are you looking at?" the albino snapped, irritated. Gavin gathered up his things, realizing his being nosy was over and he had better get out before the midget man got even angrier.

"I lost my glove. Sorry." 

The CEO moved and slipped past the pale conductor, who didn't budge at all when he squeezed by. Gavin was halfway to the stairs when the albino spoke up.

"The morning trains run at 6:30." he said, making Gavin stop and turn around. The conductor shoved his hands into his pockets and jerked his head in the direction of the train. "For future reference."

Gavin blinked at the info, and then nodded simply as the conductor rolled his eyes and stalked off, heavy boots clomping against the pavement. 

When he got home, Gavin ate dinner, watched the news, and set his alarm for 4am. He settled into bed dreaming about pinkline trains and short conductors.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based on the Chicago Transit trail lines. I've altered some of them to better fit my story, but these trains do exist in real life and are a fun, cheap way to get around the city without having to worry about parking.


End file.
